Mastodon- Once More 'Round The Sun Review

Mastodon- Once More 'Round The Sun Review

By Benjie Stewart

Rating: 10/10

Portals are the first things I think of when listening to the new Mastodon album. Riff on
top of mountainous riff, there is a chill vibe throughout the senses on Once More 'Round The Sun. It sounds like a beefed up prog induced psych fuck on a drug not known yet. This new slice of
life and death recalls "The Hunter" and "Blood Mountain" but with a little more zest around the edges. It is like a suicidal tidal wave going off a cliff to be reborn in the flames of its demise.
This is all I have gathered from ears. This album is going to take many listens to absorb all that is going on in it, around it, and from it. I am on my 4th listen and I am still trying to digest
this pragmatic mammoth. I really love the vocals on this album. I really believe drummer/vocalist Brann Dailor shines the best on Once More 'Round The Sun. The songs are very tight, but loose,
and there is a freedom and calmness about it all. Mastodon have stepped out of their box even further. They may have wrote their greatest tune with "Ember City". This is such a wonderful track of
sonic beauty. The guitar work of both Brent Hinds and Bill Kelliher is outstanding, the way they blend their harmonies and riffs is mind blowing and mind fucking to say the least. The way the
album was produced, the sounds are BIG and bold, the sounds reflect a thousand gods in a multitude of reflections leaving room for Troy Sanders’ bass work to breathe, making way for the drums and
all the vocals in between the grooves. Some other highlights from the album are "High Road", a Mastodon classic that will be heard for many years to come. "The Motherload" is where those
wonderful vocals of Dailor start to become noticed. As a whole you’ve just got to inhale this album in and exhale it out, from the artwork that is over the top, and could be considered best album
artwork for 2014. On the vinyl this artwork leaps out at you and brings you into the world of the Mastodon. What more can I say? It’s a contender for best metal album of 2014.